Monopoly - Game On!

When you think of a classic board game, you probably think of Monopoly which was based on the 1906 game The Landlord’s Game.

In the 1930s, a printing firm from Leeds called John Waddington Ltd. (Waddingtons) had begun to branch out into packaging and the production of playing cards. Waddingtons sent the card game Lexicon to Parker Brothers hoping they would publish it in the United States. Parker Brothers then sent over a copy of Monopoly to Waddingtons early in 1935 just after they had got the rights from Charles Darrow and before printing it in the United States. Victor Watson, the managing director of Waddingtons, asked his son Norman (who was head of the card games division) to test the game over the weekend. Norman was so impressed by the game and persuaded his father to call Parker Brothers on Monday morning - transatlantic calls then being almost unheard of. This call resulted in Waddingtons' obtaining a license to produce and market the game outside of the United States. The locations on the standard British version of the board game are set in London and were selected in 1935 by Victor Watson when he took his secretary Marjory Phillips on a day-trip from their head offices in Leeds to London where the pair looked around for suitable locations to use. 

The light blue set are all part of the London Inner Ring Road, the section of which opened in 1756 as the New Road. From west to east the road runs as Euston Road to King's Cross, then Pentonville Road to the Angel, Islington. The three streets in the pink set all converge at Trafalgar Square and the red set are all adjacent to each other as part of the A4 road, a major road running west from Central London. The orange set is related to locations dealing with the police and law whilst the yellow set has an entertainment and nightlife-based theme. The streets in the green set have a background in retail and commercial properties whilst the dark blue denote the most affluent areas.

The Angel, Islington

 Property Details.

Old Kent Road is named after a road in London which forms part of Watling Street; the Roman road which ran from Dover to Holyhead. It is the only location south of the River Thames and is also the only one both outside and more than one tube stop away from the Circle Line.

Whitechapel Road is named after a major arterial road in Tower Hamlets in the East End of London and is named after a small chapel of ease dedicated to St Mary and connects Whitechapel High street to the west with Mile End Road to the east. The road is part of the historic Roman road from London to Colchester, now the A11.

The Angel Islington is a former pub, not a street. An inn on the site was called the "Angel Inn" by 1614, and the crossing became generally known as 'the Angel'. It was a Lyons Corner House in 1935 and is reportedly where Victor Watson and Marjorie Phillips stopped for lunch on their day trip to London. In 2003, Victor Watson's grandson (also called Victor Watson) unveiled a plaque at the original location that is now a branch of The Co-operative Bank, to commemorate the elder Watson's contribution to British popular culture.

Euston Road runs from Marylebone Road to King's Cross and now forms part of the London congestion zone boundary. It is named after Euston Hall, the family seat of the Dukes of Grafton, who had become major property owners in the area during the mid-19th century. The road was originally the central section of New Road from Paddington to Islington which opened in 1756 as London's first bypass.

Pentonville Road is also a road in Central London, part of the London Ring Road and part of the boundary of the London congestion zone. It runs west to east from King's Cross to City Road at The Angel, Islington and was originally built in the mid-18th century as part of the New Road, a bypass of Central London for coach traffic. It was named Pentonville Road after the new town of Pentonville which had encouraged manufacturing to move out of the city and into suburbia.

Pall Mall is named after a major thoroughfare in Westminster, part of the Great West Road in England connecting St James's Street to Trafalgar Square. Historical research suggests a road had been in this location since Saxon times, although the earliest documentary references are from the 12th century in connection with a leper colony at St James's Hospital. The street's name is derived from pall-mall, a ball game played there during the 17th century, which in turn is derived from the Italian ' pallamaglio', literally meaning 'ball-mallet'.

Whitehall forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea and is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Square. The name was taken from the Palace of Whitehall that was the residence of Kings Henry V111 through to William 111 before its destruction by fire in 1698. Whitehall was originally a wide road that led to the front of the palace; the route to the south was widened in the 18th century following the destruction of the palace. 

Northumberland Avenue is a street in the City of Westminster running from Trafalgar Square in the west to the Thames Embankment in the east. The road was built on the site of Northumberland House, the London home of the Percy family, the Dukes of Northumberland between 1874 and 1876, and on part of the parallel Northumberland Street. When built, the street was designed for luxury accommodation, including the seven-storey Grand Hotel, the Victoria and the Metropole.

Bow Street is a thoroughfare in Covent Garden, Westminster connecting Long Acre, Russell Street and Wellington Street, and is part of a route from St Giles to Waterloo Bridge. It was developed in 1633 by Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford, for residential purposes. A number of notable people lived here in the 17th and 18th centuries, including Oliver Cromwell. Bow Street has a strong connection with the law with the Bow Street Runners, an early voluntary police force established here by Henry Fielding in 1750, and the Metropolitan Police service operating a station house from 1832, which led to the construction of the Bow Street Magistrates Court.

Marlborough Street is in Soho, Central London running east of Regent Street past Carnaby Street towards Noel Street. It has had an association with the law since the late-18th century and Marlborough Street Magistrates Court subsequently became one of the most important magistrates courts in London, close to the large police station on Vine Street. It is now a hotel called "The Courthouse". 

Vine Street is named after The Vine, an 18th-century public house which in turn may have been named after a vineyard that existed at this location in Roman times. Despite only being a tiny street, now a dead end, running east and parallel to Piccadilly near Piccadilly Circus, it had a major police station which grew from a watch-house to be what was once one of the busiest police stations in the world.

The Strand is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster running from Trafalgar Square eastwards to Temple bar, where the road becomes Fleet Street. Its name comes from the Old English, 'strond', meaning the edge of a river, as it historically ran alongside the north bank of the River Thames. The street was much identified with the British upper classes between the 12th and 17th centuries, with many historically important mansions being built between the Strand and the river.

Fleet Street runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London wall and the River Fleet, from which the street was named. It is one of the oldest roads outside the original city and has been an important through route since Roman times. During the Middle Ages businesses were established and senior clergy lived there; several churches remain from this time including Temple Church and St Bride's. The street became known for printing and publishing at the start of the 16th century and in March 1702 the first issue of London's first daily newspaper, the Daily Courant was published here and it became the dominant trade so that by the 20th century most British national newspapers operated from here.

Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in Westminster with the name commemorating the Battle of Trafalgar, a British naval victory of the Napoleonic Wars over France and Spain. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson flanked by fountains designed by Sir Edwin Lutvens and guarded by four lion statues. A point in Trafalgar Square is regarded as the official centre of London in legislation and when measuring distances from the capital.

Leicester Square is a pedestrianised square in the West End and was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, named after the recently built Leicester house, itself named after Robert Sidney, the 2nd Earl of Leicester. Originally a gentrified residential area, with tenants including Frederick, Prince of Wales and the artists William Hogarth and Joshua Reynolds, it became more down-market in the late 18th century as Leicester House was demolished and retail developments took place, becoming a centre for entertainment. Several major theatres were built in the 19th century, which were converted to cinemas towards the middle of the next. The square has always had a park in its centre, which was originally Common Land. 

Coventry Street was constructed in 1681 as a thoroughfare between Haymarket and Wardour Street and was named after Henry Coventry, the secretary of state to Charles 11 who built a house in this location, and renamed it Coventry House in 1670. Leicester Square and Piccadilly connect to it with all three streets sharing a common theme of entertainment and nightlife.

Piccadilly is a road in the City of Westminster to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. Around 1611 or 1612, a Robert Baker acquired land in the area, and prospered by making and selling piccadills ( a high, stiff collar of cut-work lace for the neck ). Shortly after purchasing the land, he enclosed it and erected several dwellings, including his home, Pikadilly Hall. During the 20th century, Piccadilly became known as a place to acquire heroin, and was notorious in the 1960s as the centre of London's illegall drug trade. Today, it is regarded as one of London's principal shopping streets.

Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End named after George, the Prince Regent later becoming George IV. It was laid out under the direction of the architects John Nash and James Burton and runs from Waterloo Place in St James's at the southern end, through Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Circus, to All Souls Church. From there Langham Place and Portland Place continue the route to Regents Park. During the 19th century, Regent Street became established as the 'centre of fashion' as shops expanded into multiple properties, selling imported and exotic products to appeal to niche consumers. There have been Christmas lights on Regent Street in various forms since 1882.

Oxford Street, also in the West End, runs from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus and is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors. The road was originally part of the Via Trinobantina, a Roman Road between Essex and Hampshire via London. It was known as Tyburn Road through the Middle Ages when it was notorious for public hangings of prisoners at Tyburn Gallows before becoming known as Oxford Road. Then by about 1729 it had become known as Oxford Street and is now in high demand as a retail location, with several chains having their flagship stores on the street, and has also a number of listed buildings.

Bond Street was named after Sir Thomas Bond, the head of a syndicate of developers who purchased a Piccadilly mansion called Clarendon House from Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albermarle, in 1686. He then proceeded to demolish the house and develop the area. As the only street linking Oxford Street and Piccadilly, during the 19th century, Bond Street became less known for its social atmosphere but increased its reputation as a street for luxury shopping and has maintained its reputation for luxury shopping into the 21st century, and has on occasion been regarded as the best retail location in Europe.

Park Lane runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. Originally a simple country lane on the boundary of Hyde Park, separated by a brick wall, aristocratic properties appeared during the late 18th century. The road grew in popularity when in 1820 Decimus Burton, the son of James Burton, constructed Hyde Park Corner at the lane's southern end. Following the improvements at Hyde Park Corner, plus the more affordable views of the park, this attracted the nouveau riche to the street and led to it becoming one of the most fashionable roads to live on in London. In the 20th century, Park Lane became well known for its luxury hotels, particularly The Dorchester, completed in 1931, which became closely associated with eminent writers and international film stars.

Mayfair is not a street, but a location between Picadilly, Regent Street, Oxford Street and Park Lane and is one of the most expensive districts in the world. The area became well known for the annual "May Fair" that took place from 1686 to 1764 in what is now Shepherd Market. By the reign of George 1 the May Fair had fallen into disrepute and was regarded as a public scandal ledding to a public campaign against it. One reason for Mayfair's subsequent boom in property development was that the campaign was a success in being able to keep out lower class activities. By the end of the 18th century, most of Mayfair was built on with upper-class housing; unlike some nearby areas of London, it has never lost its affluent status.  

The stations of King's Cross, Marylebone, Fenchurch Street and Liverpool Street were the four London termini of the London and North Eastern Railway, principally King's Cross which served Waddingtons' home town of Leeds.

Today, Monopoly has been translated into 43 different languages and is sold in over 111 different countries worldwide. What is unusual is that the game has official, printed rules, but most players learn how to play from others, never actually learning the correct way to play.